Tuesday is pole night.You know that right?Did I mention....Tuesday is pole night? :pSo, I went to pole last night. My second workout since I've been running at almost full power and it was AMAZING! There was some GOOD PROGRESS....wHOOOO!Last night, I finally put myself into a hip-hold, from a perfectly stable Gemini (funny how Gemini has been sort of hit and miss for me - anyone else get that with moves/things they can do? One moment you can, one moment you can't so much?). It burnt. Like, really. For some reason the FRONT of my leg never bruises, but if it could, it would be telling the tale! I didn't think to get a photo, I kind of didn't really plan on getting in to the hip hold. It was one of those "well, lets give this a go" moments when you actually nail it nicely when you never expected to! That's 6 weeks or so of trying and failing (or more accurately, flailing - really....) to just get it in one. I almost aborted the attempt when I bought my leg over and "lost my balance" but I didn't. Yay :DThere were a few "no, put your leg back" comments into Gemini. I realised that I've been straightening my back leg in the Gemini position, which, for those of you that wouldn't know basically makes it very hard to keep the grip on the pole on your tummy as you bring your leg over. Or so I've found in the transition!

Straight legged (from Fanpop.com)

Bent legged (from Pinterest.com)

Hip-hold aka Pike (from Tribesports)

So that's basically the transition I managed last night - yay :)There was also some work on a spin called a "suicide back hook". Now this was Karen's way of keeping me moving last week when standing up was half the workout for me (and then I had to take, like, 5 steps to the pole AND spin round it AND jump AND then walk back and sit down....sheesh!). Looks a bit like this when done properly...

Now, imagine getting to the bit where you jump on the pole. You stop spinning, because getting onto the pole was sort of a bit thing, and now you put one hand below you (in the wrong grip), try to put both legs round the pole (because you know they both go on at some point) and in that position you slowly slide to the floor. Basically, the spin now takes about 5 minutes instead of 9 seconds.That's sort of where I am.Tell a lie. I did do this spin. Although the two inverts were done from the floor, where I'd finally slid to after trying to put myself into the right grip :pIt's fun xD The suicide back hook was abandoned after MANY attempts (and LOTS of bruising) after a conversation about sits, knee-releases and armpit grips.Karen got that look in her eye again."Michelle, how do you feel about trying some art-pit grips?" "I don't know Karen.....how DO I feel about it!?" Apparently, I felt like doing them. That is why you NEVER ask someone else how you feel about something xDWell, apparently I DO like armpit grips. For some reason my armpits were not bothered about supporting my weight, Tom got the HUGEST bruise underneath his arm, but mine were oddly immune to the pain. I HAVE got a huge bruise on my arse though (supporting the rest of my weight there....).This is basically how I feel about arm-pit grip moves.

I have a feeling I'll be changing my mind next week - Karen definitely had that glint in her eye again. We just ran out of time ;) I've seen that glint before...double knee hook *cough* It's funny how an hour feels like 10 minutes when you're at pole. Magic I tell you!Speaking of magic - Holly at PoleFreaks has made my latest guest blog look absolutely amazing. You can check it out here: "Mind Over Matter - Your Guide To The Fear".I was talking to someone a couple of weeks ago and it dawned on me that it must be a lot of people feel reservations when they start pole-ing with the full range of moves - including inverts. It's scary and you never know if you're going to drop off of the pole or not, sometimes you can just slip but it takes a while to get used to being STRONG. The response to this article is amazing - I felt so alone with it, like I was being a wimp, but it turns out, everyone feels that way. They just get on with it if they want to pole! Have you felt something similar? How did you get over it?Anyway, I'm off to celebrate my lovely hubbies birthday. August is super-mad for birthdays with my mother's, both sisters, my own and Simon's being in it!!Catch you on the flip-side peeps :D (I really do love that saying. I think I'll have to use it more).